Improvement in folding chairs



J. E. WAKEFIELD.

FOLDING-CHAIRS.

No. 195,548. Patented Sept.25,1877.

Nina; FHOTD-LXTHDGRAPHEH. WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. WAKEFIELD, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD W.VAILL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 195,548, datedSeptember 25, 1877; application filed July 9, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, JOHN E. WAKEFIELD, of Worcester, in the State ofMassachusetts, have invented-an Improvement in Folding Chairs, of whichthe following is a specification:

The present is a modification of and improvement upon the device shownin Letters Patent N 0. 179,979, granted to me.

In this chair I make use of a back and back legs in one frame, and frontlegs extending up to the back and hinged to the same at the upper ends.The rigid seat or seat-frame is pivoted to the back legs, and connectedto the front legs by links that are pivoted to the seat near the middlethereof, so that when the chair is folded the back legs fold toward thefront legs, and the seat, after being raised by the links, swings downagain near the front legs.

When rockers are employed with this folding chair, they are pivoted tothe front legs and connected by links to the back legs, so as to be veryrigid when the chair is in use, or to swing up against the back of theback legs when the chair is folded.

This chair is very rigid when in use, and when folded for transportationit occupies but little space.

In the drawing, Figure l is a vertical section of the chair as open foruse, and Fig. .5 is a side view of the same when folded together fortransportation.

The back frame is composed of the back legs (1, extended up to form theside pieces of the back, and the cross pieces or rails 1) connect theparts a. The front legs a are pivoted at d to the back. These parts aresimilar to those in Reissue Letters Patent No. 6,815.

The seat '0 is rigid, either in the form of a frame upholstered or madeof open-work, or otherwise, and the back edge of the seat is connectedby pivot-s to the back legs of the chair. I have shown metal brackets atn, through which pass the pivot pins or screws.

The seat 2:, when open, rests upon the support or cross-rail r, andthere are links 8 extending backward from the support and pivoted at tto the seat.

When the chair is opened for use the parts are very firm and rigid,because the tendency of pressure against the back of the chair is toforce the back legs down, and the seatframe and links 8 act like togglesbetween the front and back legs to separate them and prevent the chairfolding until the seat is raised sufficiently to cause the linksstoswing upwardly as the back legs fold toward the front legs. The furthermovement of the parts in folding brings the seat down again in front ofthe front legs, in which form the chair is very compact, and occupieslittle space in being transported.

The rockers f are pivoted at e to the lower ends of the front legs 0,and there are links g, pivoted at their upper ends to the legs a and attheir lower ends to the rockers in front of the back legs, to connectthe back legs to the rockers.

The rockers are preferably connected togetherby a cross-rail, I.

It will be apparent that the chair might be made use of without therockers, as the seat and legs fold in the same manner whether therockers are used or not, and when the rockers are used they fold upbehind the back legs, in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a folding chair, the rigid seat orseatframe 4) and links 8, pivoted at one end to the seat-frame and atthe other end to the support 0' for the seat, in combination with theback and back legs, formed as one frame, and the front legs 0, pivotedat their upper ends to the back legs, the parts being constructed andarranged substantially as setforth,whereby the the seat, after beingraised, folds downwardly in front of the front legs, substantially asset forth.

2. The combination, in a folding chair, of the rockers hinged to thefront legs and connected by links g to the back legs, the back and backlegs formed of one frame, the front legs pivoted to the back, the rigidseat or frame, and the links 8, pivoted to the seat at their back endsand to the support 1' at their front ends, and folding in the manner andfor the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 30th day of J une, A. D.

J. E. WAKEFIELD. Witnesses:

TEoTT J. BABNARD, HENRY BAER.

